Replies From The Bridge
by Netbug009
Summary: Selected answers from the hyperforcego ask blog at Tumblr.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Long time, no see!

In an effort to flex my writing muscles, I've started an Ask the Hyperforce prose blog on Tumblr. Sometimes a question prompts a ficlet-length answer, so I figured I'd share the longer pieces here.

**PLEASE DO NOT SUBMIT QUESTIONS FOR THE HYPERFORCE IN YOUR REVIEWS.** I'm only taking questions on the Tumblr, which you can find a link to on my author page! You don't need a Tumblr account to send an ask there, and it's a lot easier for me to keep organized. **QUESTIONS ASKED IN REVIEWS HERE WILL BE IGNORED.**

Anyways, enjoy! And check out the blog for more answers. :)

* * *

the-iron-fjord asked: What does the 77 in SPRX-77?

When Antauri came onto the bridge, looking for Chiro and suspecting he might be playing video games, all he found was Sprx standing at the keyboard. Oddly enough, the large monitor was inactive, and Sprx seemed to be looking at a message on a small screen built into the console.

"Sprx? Trouble?"

"GAH!" Sprx jumped and turned to face Antauri. How long had he just been staring at the screen? "N-No! No!"

The truth was, he had no idea how to answer the question, and he felt rather silly. Still, asking Antaui was a little less pathetic than asking Brainstrain…

"Hey, Antauri…" He looked around one last time to make sure nobody else was lurking around. Still unable to flat out admit he had no idea what his name stood for, he settled on asking, "Why do you think the Alchemist named us what we did?"

"My memories of such have not returned," Antauri replied. "However, I recall Chiro asking Gibson about that same matter, and he deduced that it's likely my name is related to a star called Alpha Centauri, located a good distance from here. Sprx, if you're wondering about your name, I'm sure Gibson would be glad to resea-"

"NO! No, thanks."

Antauri chuckled privately. "Alright then," he replied before walking off. Maybe Chiro was already in the training room waiting for him.

Sprx didn't need Gibson's help. Not with the power of the internet. He put the question aside and spent the next 10 minutes looking at possible meanings of the number 77.

Naturally, they were all related to math and science.

Monkey Doodle.

**It has to do with Iridium, a super rare metal used to make my magnets.**

Sure, that made sense. Sprx shrugged, sent his reply, and tried not to think about it anymore.

* * *

A/N: Iridium isn't even very magnetic and Sprx has no clue what he's talking about.


	2. Chapter 2

Anonymous Asks: What got you guys into what you do? (Ya know, science, piloting, mathmatics, etc.)

_"Antauri," Gibson protested, "Are you certain we should be letting Otto do this? I mean, if the neutron generator isn't configured properly, it could lead to a meltdown that could leave us stranded, or worse."_

_"Gibson, whoever put us here left us very little information to go on, but our roles were one of the few things they were specific on." Antauri waved the data disc that had been sitting on the console when they had awoken. Other than its sparse contents, including what roles they would each take and some basic information about the Super Robot's contents. It didn't even hint at who could have left them there in the first place…_

_But even though Gibson had only been active for a few days, he could tell that his knowledge database had to be far more extensive than Otto's. Otto was just… Otto didn't seem like heroic material period, much less one with any mechanical skills. Tuning up the forlorn neutron generator would take a series of complex calculations and hours of-_

_"Done!"_

_Gibson blinked and stared at Otto, who was looking over to the team with an innocent smile._

_"Oh, let me see that!" Gibson shoved Otto aside to fix the problem himself._

_Except the generator was now in like-new condition._

_"Uh, Gibson?" Sprx said. "You might want to pick your jaw up off the floor, fast. We haven't dusted around here yet."_

**I dunno. They just seemed to come naturally to us. Maybe the Alchemist trained us before he went-**

Otto paused and frowned at his answer.

**I dunno. They just seemed to come naturally to us. Maybe the Alchemist trained us.**


	3. Chapter 3

To Gibson: What lessons/topics have you caught Chiro?

**Chiro received a well rounded education, much like he did at his former human school. Although I must say, public education's coverage of trigonometry is hardly adequate for a young man of Chiro's stature, so I have put him on a properly accelerated course and…**

_Gibson looked away from the keyboard to realize the boy was nowhere to be found. He had just been working on his homework nearby and there was no way he was done yet. Closer examination revealed a few scribbles in his notebook and his electronic textbook on the first page of the chapter._

**Then again, perhaps Chiro's former instructors were less thinking about his potential and more his maturity level. In that case, I must agree with their methods.**

_"Chiro!" Gibson picked up the book and headed towards Chiro's room. "You realize this chapter is due tomorrow, monster attack or shine!"_

_"Gibson."_

_Gibson jumped. He hadn't even realized Antauri was in the hallway, much less right behind him. "I question the wisdom of pushing Chiro's intellect so hard when he is already dealing with so much stress."_

_"… Right. Of course."_

_In truth, the classes were just as much for Gibson as they were for Chiro. It was one of the few times he felt like he got to bond with his leader, even if Chiro would fall asleep half the time._

But things weren't going to be the way they always had been right now. That just wasn't logical.


	4. Chapter 4

When Mandarin went to the Dark Side, why did you lock him away, instead of trying to dissuade him and bring him back to you? - Anon**  
****  
...You think we didn't try?**

**Really. Really, you think we didn't try and talk him out of it?**

_"You've started down a dark path, my friend, but it is not to late to turn back. I still sense good in you, Mandarin... If you'd think back and realize how much more for you the love of this city has done for us than any dictatorship would, I know you have the sound mind to see that your desire isn't sound."_

_Antauri was running out of things to say. The usually stoic second in command had been talking at his detained leader for hours, offering every piece of advice and reasoning that he thought could help. That once upon a time would have helped, because until a few months ago he would have trusted Mandarin to say these things to him._

_But now, the orange monkey was merely glaring from the other side of the energy bars._

_When Antauri finally left, Otto ran in to try for himself whether anybody wanted him to or not. He was quickly beaten down by harsh words from his former best friend, but still refused to leave. He spent the rest of the day sitting in front of the cell, and only went to get some rest when Gibson all but dragged him away. _

**You think we just happily locked him away and got on with our lives?**

_Quiet. Quiet missions. Quiet meals. Quiet downtime. The Super Robot was a small ghost town with five residents who were all but dead themselves. Effort was taken by every member to avoid the hallway containing Mandarin's suite, even if the only other option was to crawl through the tubing system._

_They all spent their time on the bridge - nobody wanted to say anything, but nobody wanted to be alone - sans Otto, who spent most of his time in his workshop building nothing and crying plenty._

_Eventually, Sprx started turning on the TV to something mind-numbing just to have sound. He would have even taken Mandarin's insults at that point, at least for a little while longer. _

**You're wrong. By the time we let Mandarin go, we knew we didn't have any choice. And doodle you for thinking it could have been any other way.**

_Sprx sent the nasty reply without a second's hesitation. At least the jerk could have had the nerve to say it to his face._


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: **In case anybody is having any trouble following: Bold text are the replies the Hyperforce actually sends. Regular text includes actions, discussion, and anything between the team that they don't include in their answer.

Also, in questions, any grammatical/spelling errors are preserved, since they are on the HyperforceGo Tumblr too.

* * *

**Non-Reply Chapter: Sprx's Funk, Part 1**

Nova had been out in the field all of two days and Sprx managed to cuss out the blog, yell at a couple morepeople, and then lock himself in his room like a spoiled child when Gibson had told him to stay off the blog until he could calm down. But as she read the actual log of what had happened, rather than Gibson's flabbergasted retelling, she couldn't really blame him too much for the way he had reacted. It wasn't easy to let Mandarin go, even for her, even after the creep had given her traumatic stress that she'd recall every time they scouted a planet with even a few flakes of snow on the ground. Once upon a time, she would have found the sparkling white silence gorgeous.

Still, she was lucky enough to have a fiery response to her handicap - when Sprx was mad, he was just stupid, like when he'd…

He'd…

She knocked on his door, and refused to walk away when he didn't answer. "Sprx? I know you're there."

Another pause, and then Sprx's door cracked open. He didn't look angry at the moment - just hurt.

"I heard you got banned from blog-duty. I thought you would love talking about yourself?" No response. Nova frowned. Usually Sprx was the first one to joke about a situation, but he was just looking at her like he didn't know what to do anymore.

"I'm too tired right now," Sprx replied before closing the door between them, and Nova knew he didn't mean physical exhaustion.


	6. Chapter 6

What things changed for you when Chiro was integrated into the team? - youareshauni

**It was… difficult, especially in the beginning.**

"Who died and made you leader anyway?"

Gibson, Nova, and Antauri all glared at Sprx. Nobody had "died" per say, but the answer was painfully obvious. "…Okay, well, you still shouldn't make Otto do this! You saw how hurt he was… You know how close they were! And now you order him to go help the kid clean out Mandarin's old room?!"

"Antauri, for once I find Sprx's judgement quite sound."

At first, Antauri was silent, collecting his words. "I sense this is something that Otto needs to do, and I assure you I will be keeping a close eye on his mental state as well."

"But Antauri…" Nova said, "are you sure?"

"For the time being - until Chiro is ready to assume his duties - I am asking you all to trust me."

All protests were gone. If anyone else had said it, it would have sounded like a hostile takeover of the Hyperforce in the absence of Mandarin. But when Antauri said it, it just seemed right.

* * *

After the meeting, Nova headed for her room, hoping punching her formless dummy could get her mind off the awkward transition, not to mention Otto. Was Antauri really right to put him through something like that? She imagined Otto standing in their former leader's room with that blank expression that she couldn't get used to seeing on him, even though that'd been all the emotion Otto had shown since he'd stopped crying before they'd gone into stasis.

She'd been so deep in her worried that she'd forgotten to avoid the hallway around Mandarin's room, and ran face first into Chiro.

"Woah!" Chiro fumbled the three boxes he'd been carrying out of the room he only knew as "an old guest room" and dropped all but one of them.

"I got ya!" Nova's hands transformed to make it easier to catch the other two.

Chiro sighed. "Thanks … Nova, right?"

"Oh, uh, yeah."

"Hi Nova!"

Nova nearly dropped the boxes again at the other - chipper - voice.

Otto was right behind Chiro, carrying two boxes in his own arms, and while it wasn't close to his trademark grin, he was smiling for the first time since Mandarin had left.

After exchanging the quick greetings, the two fast friends seemed to forget she was there and went back to talking a mile a minute about some video game Chiro liked and Otto though sounded fun.

**…But there was no doubt that he was the Chosen One, even then.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Non-Reply Chapter: Sprx's Funk, Part 2**

She knocked on Sprx's door again, and he answered despite himself. But instead of finding one of his comrades, a formless was staring him in the face.

He screeched and blasted it with his magnets. Once he calmed down, he realized the remains of one of Nova's punching bags were scattered on the floor in front of him, a few stray sparks still bouncing off of them. Nova grinned, holding another bag under her arm. "There we go!"

"N-Nova?! What-"

"If you're going to be too grumpy to run your mouth, than we're going to release that anger my way." She put the other punching bag down in front of him. "No magnets - they last longer if you punch 'em. Trust me."

"…"

"Well? Are you just going to stand there or-"

Sprx's fist - hand knives at the ready - shot right through the bag, startling his teammate. She stared at he proceeded to completely tear the bag apart, leaving dozens of slashes in the metal flooring before he finally stopped, retracting the blades and catching his breath.

"Sprx…" her hand hovered a few inches above his rising and falling shoulder, but she pulled it away when he looked at her.

"If Otto asks, this was your idea, right?" Sprx said, pointing at the scratches in front of his door.


	8. Chapter 8

What were your first thoughts when you found out the next chosen one was a human teen? (It'd be cool to get an answer from all of ya) - Anonymous

**He seemed too young. I'm aware that human teens can have a physical strength equal to adults of their species, but the brain changes rapidly during adolescence. I was more concerned for how Chiro would be affected psychologically and whether he would be able to handle such a harrowing leadership position.**

Gibson saved his answer for later, making a mental note to ask each of his teammates for their answers as he ran into them.

* * *

**I won't pretend I wasn't worried too, but anybody was better than Mandarin. **

Nova didn't mention how nervous she had been the first time Chiro had suggested weather training. She'd avoided the robot all day and didn't actually come to training - which turned out to involve everyone and be a simple wind-related exercise - until Antauri called her and talked her down.**Chiro was really nice!**

* * *

"Are you sure that is your complete answer, Otto? There is more to being a leader, after all."

**Chiro was really nice and had a cool costume!**

Gibson didn't press Otto any further.

* * *

**Who, the kid? I knew all along he'd be just fine. He had that "good leader" look to him.**

Gibson rolled his eyes. Even if he didn't already know for a fact that Sprx had been the most skeptical out of all of them, it sounded like much more of a lie coming from him than it had from Antauri.


	9. Chapter 9

I was wondering what you think of how some people in Shuggazoom treat you guys differently because you're heros and stuff. - dandi-candi

**No place like Shuggazoom - We're rockstars here! Flying over down while they cheer me on just fits.**

"Ain't that right, Antauri?" Sprx looked back at the second in command.

**As long as it never interferes with our ability to bring peace to them, I don't mind if they adore us or hate us. Although, the support we've receive from Shuggazoom's government has been a great asset. **

"Uh, yeah…" Sprx went off to get answers from the others.

* * *

**Perfect timing! I had just finished calibrating the results of a poll Shuggazoom's newspaper recently did on that very-**

"Sprx, where are you going?! I wasn't finished!"

"Yeah, you were, or I was gonna be."

* * *

**I gotta admit, it's nice to be appreciated, but it won't mean anything if we don't keep Shuggazoom safe.**

Nova punched her new formless dummy even harder as if to emphasize her point.

* * *

**Everyone is so nice! And they give us cookies!**

Chiro was tempted to remind Otto that the ones who gave them cookies tried to kill them, but… nah, Otto's point still stood anyway.

**Yeah, being a superhero is awesome! You get to save the world and you don't have to deal with bullies at school! **

Chiro had even more light in his eyes than Otto had. Sprx, was about to leave to report the answers, when Chiro added one last thing.

**But more importantly, I got the best family in the whole universe.**

Sprx smiled. "We got a really great leader out of the deal, too."


	10. Chapter 10

Does everyone on the team have medical experience? What would happen if your doctor was seriously injured and needed immediate medical attention? Would you guys be able to give it? - Anonymous

**The entire team has basic field medic experience, such as stopping bleeding and disinfecting a wound. But Gibson's the real doctor of the group. Between you and me though…**

_"Hey Nova?"_

_"Yeah, Chiro?"_

_"Could you rebandage this for me?"_

_"What's wrong? Is Gibson busy?"_

_"No."_

_"…Okay, one second."_

**…Gibson's bedside manner is ****_terrible. _**


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Apologies for this one potentially being a bit OOC on Sprx's part.

lorriebm11 asked: Hey Gibson, If I a random person in Shuggazoom was captured by Skeleton King, and the only way to save them was to eat 3 tarantula hawks, 5 tarantulas, 8 mongolian hissing cockroaches, and 5 centipedes (all uncooked), what would you do?

**Ohhhhh, this is a great- I mean, that'd be horrible, but let me ask him.**

_Sprx cackled at the question on the newly fixed monitor. "So it's working?" Otto asked with a smile, although Sprx could only see the green pair of legs poking out from under the control panel._

_"Yeah, it's working fine. Also, I have an idea."_

* * *

_"What, in Shuggazoom's name, made you think it was okay to trick me like that?!"_

_Otto and Sprx were both laughing as Gibson tossed the pile of bugs against the wall. They had originally planned to tell him that the ransom note was fake **after** he'd finished his heroic meal, but they lost it before Gibson could touch a single bug. "Hey, do you know how boring watch duty is when you're the pilot? I was born to move machines, not watch them gather dust."_

This excuse did nothing to sooth Gibson's nerves. "You, of all - After what you've been - " He caught himself before bringing _**that**__ up again. It was still too low a blow. Too fresh a wound. Nothing would make him use the Fire of Hate against his brother. Not even 3 tarantula hawks, 5 tarantulas, 8 mongolian hissing cockroaches, and 5 centipedes in a bowl with a plastic spork._

_And yet Sprx's expression made it clear he'd gotten where Gibson was going with his retort anyway. The scientist winced, but was surprised when Sprx whispered to him rather than yelling._

_"Look… Just, look how happy Otto is." Gibson side-eyed the green monkey, who was still chuckling as he rounded bugs up with a level of care that made it hard to believe he'd collected them to be a sacrifice to the ultimate prank to begin with. He paused a few times, trying to collect himself but still laughing so hard at remembering Gibson's face that he couldn't quite keep it together. He tried to remember the last time his friend had seemed so… "happy" wasn't the word for it - Otto was happy making weapons and fixing the robot too, but he hadn't looked so relaxed since before this miserable war. Gibson's heart ached a little at the realization that Sprx had been observing Otto's level of stress better than the team's physician._

_"…We'll all discuss better stress-reduction tactics later," Gibson said with a huff as he headed back to his lab, but despite how incredibly stupid, rude, and thoughtless the event he had just gone through was, he couldn't help a small smile from crossing his face._

_Until he almost stepped on a centipede Otto was herding. "Please remove every insect from the robot before your watch shift is over."_

_"Hey Gibson, what if-"_

_"You. Are. Not. Keeping. Any."_

_Otto shrugged and returned to his task. Sprx sat at the monitor and finished his reply._

**Gibson would totally do it. He'd do anything for Shuggazoom.**

**He'd also do anything for his team.**


End file.
